New EU Rule for Electric Cars

[Jon39]

I heard it mentioned on the news today, that the EU will require (presumably after some particular date) all new electric cars to generate a sound, as a a warning of presence for pedestrians and cyclists.

Perhaps the Lagonda models will provide a choice of exhaust sounds, hopefully including Valkyrie, Vantage GTE, Vantage GT3, with the engine rpm sound linked to road speed.

[cayman-black]

lol. the cars that make some noise are getting quieter and the quieter cars now want some noise.

[bogie]

I was watching something the other day about one of the car companies fine tuning the noise their electric cars make, customer feedback said they wanted it to sound like a spaceship ....apparently

Im sure we will have a choice of factory approved and legal sounds so theres no chance of pedestrians not hearing it ...

Edited by bogie on Monday 1st July 09:15

[RL17]

Only for speeds up to 12mph from tomorrow - so works for driveways, traffic jams and reversing but not most urban streets.

Intro from this (first 15 seconds or so) would work


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ

[Manx V8V]

I can relate to this issue, I have an electric motorbike, and when travelling along at slow speeds, for example in car parks and areas around shops I find pedestrians are completely oblivious to your presence behind them, I don't like to sound the horn and make them jump as it seems a bit rude, so I find myself trickling along behind them, and sometimes end up lifting my visor and saying "excuse me" at which point they spin around with surprise!!.

It's more of a problem though at 30mph when pedestrians simply turn on their heels and step into the road without looking, as they can't hear anything coming!!

I recently spoke to a Nissan Leaf owner who said she experienced the same problems as me, so I wondered if something like this would be in the pipeline as more electric vehicles appear on our roads.

[G0ldfysh]

I'll have mine all in black and sounding like a tie fighter please.

[rovcallum]

So, up to 12 mph we get a sound effect. What about between 12 - 30 mph?

Anyway, I think something like this should work just fine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVDLQXJD3vA

[dbs2000]

Manx V8V said:

I can relate to this issue, I have an electric motorbike, and when travelling along at slow speeds, for example in car parks and areas around shops I find pedestrians are completely oblivious to your presence behind them, I don't like to sound the horn and make them jump as it seems a bit rude, so I find myself trickling along behind them, and sometimes end up lifting my visor and saying "excuse me" at which point they spin around with surprise!!.

It's more of a problem though at 30mph when pedestrians simply turn on their heels and step into the road without looking, as they can't hear anything coming!!

I recently spoke to a Nissan Leaf owner who said she experienced the same problems as me, so I wondered if something like this would be in the pipeline as more electric vehicles appear on our roads.

I had similar when borrowing in iPace. We followed pedestrians in a car park for 100m or so, we were all laughing that none of them had any peripheral vision, even when turning their heads to chat. When they did see us they gave an apologetic wave. I guess it'll just take time for people to adjust.

[8Tech]

And also dont forget, after the recent court ruling, YOU are responsible for pedestrians who walk out in front of you, whether oblivious to the fact your vehicle is silent, or whether they have headphones on or are busy on their mobile phone.

They have no duty of care apparently to have any awareness of their surroundings.

[Jon39]

8Tech said:

And also dont forget, after the recent court ruling, YOU are responsible for pedestrians who walk out in front of you, whether oblivious to the fact your vehicle is silent, or whether they have headphones on or are busy on their mobile phone.

They have no duty of care apparently to have any awareness of their surroundings.

I remember hearing about that decision. It involved a cyclist left facing huge costs - crazy.

A thought which comes to mind.
Wonder if that ruling was by the same judge, who agreed legal action can be commenced against any politician who has told a 'porky'. Once it was realised that the House of Commons would rapidly become empty, that judge was very quickly overruled.

[morty1961]

I was hoping the announcement was going to be that the range was going to be on a par with petrol cars !!!

[XXXAngelXXX]

What about a man with a red flag marching in front of the electric car

[murphyaj]

Jon39 said:

8Tech said:

And also dont forget, after the recent court ruling, YOU are responsible for pedestrians who walk out in front of you, whether oblivious to the fact your vehicle is silent, or whether they have headphones on or are busy on their mobile phone.

They have no duty of care apparently to have any awareness of their surroundings.

I remember hearing about that decision. It involved a cyclist left facing huge costs - crazy.

A thought which comes to mind.
Wonder if that ruling was by the same judge, who agreed legal action can be commenced against any politician who has told a 'porky'. Once it was realised that the House of Commons would rapidly become empty, that judge was very quickly overruled.

There are some details that have been glossed over in the press.
The judge found that they were both equally responsible for the collision, as each could have avoided it. Legally they were thus both able to make a compensation claim against the other, with their respective damages assessed and then summed up. The reason the cyclist is on the line for so much money is because he chose not to make a compensation claim because he (and I agree here) "doesn't believe in the compensation culture". When the pedestrian did make a claim he then fought it, let it go to court, and when he lost was on the line for costs which were 20x higher than the compensation.

It's a rather sad chain of events, but some of the headlines have made it sound worse than it was. And when reading about a court case remember that you'll only be getting about 2% of the details, there will be a vast amount of context that you'll never be able to find.